


Sacred Geometry

by goddessofcheese



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 07:52:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15166058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddessofcheese/pseuds/goddessofcheese
Summary: “Well what’s a nice Warlock like you doing in a place like this?”





	Sacred Geometry

The official rule was that no one that wasn’t authorized for salvage and repair was allowed in the old Tower. Despite the fact that it was still standing, it remained a dangerous area with entire floors sundered. For once, the entire Consensus agreed on something, and it was that those who went in ran the risk of finding a faulty beam or crumbling concrete in just the right spot. Any workers going inside had to be accompanied by at least one Guardian able to safeguard against any worst possibilities. And those teams then had to stay in a radio link back to someone else in the new headquarters, ready to send in a backup team after them at the drop of a hat.

An orderly, tidy safety measure.

So naturally Cayde-6 had gone there. Alone. In the middle of the night.

Ikora thought over his motives as she stepped around a burned out Cabal carrier. What could he possibly be wanting from this wreckage? Not that it was unusual for Cayde to go wandering off into places that he shouldn’t.  _ That  _ was still certainly in character for both himself and the Hunters he represented. But Cayde, for all his griping and whining, had been dutiful in remaining within the confines of the City as his position required He and Zavala hadn’t bickered in nearly a week about this, immediately setting off her suspicions to keep an eye on the wayward Exo. And sure enough…

But why here instead of, say, some oddball bar down in the City or off with a Guardian to find some suddenly-remembered stash of a handful of glimmer and a hand cannon that wasn’t nearly as good as he remembered it being? Why  _ here _ ?

Curiosity prompted her to pick up her pace.

The large metal doors to the former market were wide open. As she approached the entrance, Ikora took a moment to pause and look out over the space before her. The spot where the Speaker’s study once sat, extending out from the Tower as its own small sanctuary, was now only empty air. From the new Tower, it looked like just another part of the larger puzzle of disaster. Up close, it looked more like a gaping wound of metal and concrete… one that could simply could not be healed. In its place, the Traveler could be more clearly seen, its glow filling the once occupied air. Ikora took a deep breath – one that did not shake in even the slightest, she told herself – and walked through the doors.

The marketplace there situated next to the Speaker’s study now served as a worker’s collection space of whatever things could be found in the hopes they could be returned to their also-hopefully still alive owners. How successful this effort had been, Ikora couldn’t tell. There were boxes everywhere. Weapons and armor were few; the Red Legion had stolen what they could use and melted down what they couldn’t. Most everything else found were of a personal matter that  the Cabal simply didn’t or perhaps refused to appreciate enough to steal. Art. Clothing. Toys. And, in a dishearteningly small pile, books.

Cayde had his back to her, down on his knees. It didn’t seem like he’d noticed her yet, so she was content to lean against the doorway and observe. He had his own pile of books it seemed, slowly growing as he took a tome off the original stack, looked at it, and then tossed it to his left to join the others. He checked another, and another, and another. Clearly he was searching for something specific… But what?

She bristled as she recognized all of the books as the Speaker’s; seeing a slightly charred one topple off and crumble onto its pages finally called her to action.

“ _ Cayde. _ ”

If he had skin, she imagined the Exo would have been jumping out of it. He was instantly up and on his feet and turned to face her, dropping a few more books as he did.

“Ikora! H-hey!”

She gave no response other than a half-raised eyebrow and a frown.

“Uhh… ahem.” Glancing down at the books and then back to her, he tried to nonchalantly lean against a charred booth, arms folded. His ghost ducked down behind his shoulder like a shy child. “Well what’s a nice Warlock like you doing in a place like this?” he asked as smoothly as butter.

“Hm,” was her only answer while she closed the space between them, first taking her time to look him over and then turning her attention to the books. She picked up the one that had fallen and dusted it off It seemed no worse for wear luckily. “Sight-seeing, are we?”

“Ah well, you know.” He gave a noncommittal shrug. “Got homesick, what can I say.”

“Funny. When I feel homesick, I do not usually crawl through forbidden areas in the dead of night to feel better.”

“Well, I feel like most of  _ my _ answers to feelings usually does involve needless risk-taking.”

Ikora paused and then nodded. That did, in fact, sound about right.

“But that still doesn’t really answer the question as to why you’re _here_ , Cayde.” That wasn’t entirely truthful. She had her suspicion. But she wanted to hear him say it. And when he didn’t seem to be ready to give such a forthcoming answer, she instead turned her attention to the books, picking up the one that had fallen to the wayside. It was a volume of old world mythology, around saviors and angels; the leather was cracked and dull but it still had the pleasing scent of an old and well-loved book. It made her smile a little. Yes, this seemed appropriate for the Speaker’s collection. But as quickly as she smiled, it went away, as her mind inevitably thought of the reality that of all the things they had shared together over the years, whether for good or ill, all that had survived was a small binding of paper and ink.

“I’m surprised any of these survived.” Her voice was quiet, somber.

“Me too.” Cayde’s response was equally soft as he walked closer, stopping close to her side. “I figured they’d all be burned to ash.”

Her eyes looked him over. Ah ha. There it was. “Along with whichever one you were looking for.”

It was always hard to read Exo expressions, but she had come to know this one quite well in their shared experienced of unexpected Vanguard positions.  There was a faint pulse in his glowing eyes. A little twitch to his jaw. She suspected not many other people saw through his poker face, especially when he used his humor to deflect. But she knew. And  _ he knew _ that  _ she knew _ . It was… amusing.

“I was looking for something I stashed in there a while ago,” he finally admitted in almost a shy tone.

She chuckled. “I’m a little surprised he never noticed one of your giant boxes in his personal study.”

“Ha! That mental image is pretty funny, isn’t it? Nah. It was a book, actually.”

He reached out with a hand, palm up, requesting. She obliged and put the book back into his grasp. To his credit, he was more careful this time, carefully thumbing away some of a charred corner away until the ash was gone and then setting it back down on the stack with the others.

“I put it in there years ago, kind of a secret little dare. Wanted people to find it, you know. I thought it’d be safe there. I wasn’t counting on… y’know.” He waved both arms to their surroundings.

"None of us were. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Nah. Maybe it's around. Or maybe a worker thought it looked cool and pocketed it. I... I wouldn't mind that.” He shrugged, his frame sagging a little. "Or it's gone. But hey. It was just a book."

For the first time, Ikora noted a sadness to his tone. This book of his... it must have been precious to him. They had all lost things precious to them, but this was perhaps the first time she’d really heard Cayde himself speak of his since the attack. It wasn’t as if she didn’t think he wasn’t affected too; perhaps it was just easier to forget with his wisecracks and snark. But hearing him actually say it into words resonated an ache she thought had settled.  She touched him, at first on his left wrist and then with her other hand on the right, her grip firm but gentle. It startled him, his eyes flickering between her hands and back up to meet her stare. Above them, their Ghosts shared a look, whirring thoughtfully. They held the gaze as she slid her hands down into his and gave them a reassuring squeeze. His hands were firm under the soft, worn leather of his gloves. Interestingly warm.

Exos couldn’t smile. But she could almost imagine it as he chuckled under his breath and returned her grip with equal tenderness, fingers lacing into hers.

“If I learned anything from all this,” she murmured, “it’s that things are not always as lost as it  may seem.”

“Ah, stop, you’re makin’ me all mushy,” he responded just as eloquently. “But… thanks. Thanks.”  Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Oh! I almost forgot!”

As if broken from a spell, Cayde bounced on his toes and turned away from her, back down onto the ground with the books with his curious Ghost not far behind. He came back up with a singed volume, recognizable to her even in its poor state. 

“ _On Circles_ ,” she read aloud as he pressed it into her hands. “By Ikora Rey. The original version.”

“Gotta say I like the design on the revised edition better. Prettier.”

Ikora only rolled her eyes and turned the book over in her hands, turning away towards the ever present glow of the Traveler for a better view of it. Cayde was right in this case; this one was a little too gaudy to her now, with its brightly blue cover and crisscrossing silver patterns, her name pressed in with the same color. And its current state didn’t help much with the look; the spine was badly broken and half of it was burned away. But when she delicately opened it up, she found what she was looking for – a signature, from her, right inside the cover. It hadn’t been requested; she’d simply done it as though  _ she _ were the one gracing  _ him _ with the addition to the library. By the Traveler, how arrogant she’d once been. “Funny. I remember when I gave this to the Speaker, I never gave a thought there would be a revised edition. I assumed it would simply be as it was forever. Static.” She closed it with a satisfying thud. “Permanent.”

“Eh. You were younger. And hey I like the chapter about post-Golden Age muqarnas and girih  _ much _ better now.”

Her eyebrows raising up, Ikora turned back to him, all too aware that her surprise was visible on her face. “Funny. I recall a review saying you only liked the pictures. It didn’t mention you’d actually read it.”

Cayde made a “tch” noise of dismissal. “And have people under the impression that I actually understand this stuff and then try to get me into scholarly discussions about it? Ha. Noooo thanks.” But he paused for a beat and added, “Besides… I don’t just read anyone’s books, y’know.”

And for the first time in perhaps too long, Ikora felt the warmth of a blush at the edges of her smile.

“I can explain some of it. Not that you would be interested, I’m sure.”

“Oh  _ definitely _ not but hey.” He shrugged half-heartedly and took a seat, leaning against a pillar, legs splayed out in front of him casually. His Ghost flew into the space of his hood, snuggling deeply into his scarf. “Hit me up with some knowledge.”

She sat down next to him in a far more disciplined kneeling position. Her Ghost remained hovering, though it flew in closer than perhaps it normally would, just above her shoulder so it could see the book better. Ikora pretended not to notice. Just as she pretended not to notice when Cayde leaned against her side. Though she wasn’t pretending when she returned the gesture as she began to read the first chapter aloud.

Above them both, the Traveler watched, its spherical shape stirring but still, joining in quiet harmony.


End file.
